LEFT: The Department of World Languages & Literatures’s traditional Japanese kabuki production returned to Lincoln Hall. Even the horse had to rehearse! CENTER: Engineering professor Christof Teuscher placed second this spring in the 1,000-mile Iditarod …on foot. The Iditarod Trail Invitational follows the same trail in Alaska as the famed dog-sled race. RIGHT: Portland State held its commencements in Providence Park this year. Not only did the stadium offer a spacious outdoor location, but there was popcorn while graduates waited to take the stage. Here are some of our favorite PSU Instagram photos from the past few months. Tag us with #portlandstate, #portlandstatealumni, or #proudviks. INSTAWORTHY PSU SO-MIN KANG FIDDLER ON THE BRIDGE IN EARLY FEBRUARY, the Portland Winter Light Festival returns to the city. And this time, attendees will be treated to a magical, ephemeral experience of music in a most unexpected location. Visitors to PSU’s Urban Plaza will be able to look up from the street to see (and hear) a giant color video projection of acclaimed violinist Tomás Cotik, professor of violin at the School of Music &Theater, playing selections by Bach, Telemann, Piazzolla, and Tárrega. The project, which runs Feb. 3-5, is titled “Ombra Musici II” (“musician’s shadow” in Italian), and is the result of a collaboration between Cotik and Dave Colangelo, a professor of digital creation and communication at Ryerson University.The team received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to produce the project, which expands on “Ombra Musici,” presented at the 2019 Portland Winter Light Festival (pictured right), where moving silhouettes of musicians were projected onto the PSU Library facade. “Life has been radically altered by the effects of the pandemic,” says Cotik, who notes that, while arts activities in particular were halted during COVID-19, the human need for catharsis, comfort, and entertainment only grew. With this project, Cotik aims to surprise and delight viewers with a performance of classical music that can be experienced alone or in communion with other festival-goers—offering a moment of beauty and solace at the darkest time of winter. —KAREN O’DONNELL STEIN MYSTERY PUP A SPRING CLEAN-OUT of the Simon Benson Alumni House uncovered a mysterious mutt (shown left) with alumni roots. Stitched together with thick felted wool in Portland State colors, this vintage wiener dog sports a prominent “V” on each ear—likely for Vanport College—dating this particular stuffy back to the 1950s. Vanport College Extension Center was founded in 1946 and kept Vanport in its name until becoming Portland State College in 1955.The plush pup appears in a similar style to other popular college souvenirs of the era, though no one knows its exact origins. Legends say the pup held court in the Simon Benson Alumni House for years and was passed around between alumni board members as a good luck charm. If any alumni know the origins of the 70-year-old dog, or if you have any memories with it, please let us know at alum@pdx.edu. —REBECCA OLSON JAMES LEE WILSON ‘ 17 FALL 2022 // 11
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